History TearJerker / Survivor

* The emotional moment in the finale of ''Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers'' when Ben loses the final challenge after a close heat with Chrissy due to several awful mistakes and believes an upside-down u will haunt him for the rest of his life, and Jeff even uses that statement as a lead-in knowing he says that. It makes the surprise twist all the more satisfying.
** Or, if you're a fan of Chrissy, Ryan or Devon, knowing that the surprise twist ultimately screwed them over can be heart-breaking, especially since it was made very apparent that Ben was supposed to go home.

** It becomes a meta-Tearjerker for Varner. What he essentially did was nothing short of privacy invasion and crossed the [[MoralEventHorizon line between forgivable and inexcusable]]. He violated Zeke's by publicizing sensitive information that he didn't want others to know to avoid drawing attention to himself, and Zeke is uncomfortable with people questioning this aspect of his life and probing for the whole story. Even worse, this is a rampant issue [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxxing on the Internet]] as well as real life. Varner basically opened the door for the ''world'' to know this, and [[DespairEventHorizon the poor man was so torn up over realizing what he did, he went suicidal for a while and had to undergo therapy]]. The fact that this episode went to air probably doesn't help his plight one bit. It also comes as a stark reminder not to take a game show too seriously, because greed can drive people to reprehensible actions that can never be taken back, or as Jeff Probst so clearly put it, "[[AnAesop You can't un-ring the bell.]]"
*** It gets [[FromBadToWorse even worse]] when you find out that Varner was fired from his real estate job due to the negative backlash, because some fans of Survivor had contacted his work and demanded they fire him. Not only did he damage Zeke's life, but his own as well. Many fans are worried that he'll relapse into depression and become suicidal again and are trying to get his work to rehire him. [[CryForTheDevil You can't help but pity a man who's life is in shambles after an ill thought-out mistake that he clearly regrets.]] Fortunately for him, he [[http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/gotriad_extra/greensboro-s-jeff-varner-survives-survivor-with-new-job-outlook/article_80c11fa3-82a5-5322-937f-eefecc10ffdb.html got a new job]] which according to him in the finale was actually better than the one he previously held.
*** This can all be negated, however, when Varner decides that ''he's'' the true victim of Zeke's outing incident and that Zeke should apologize to ''[[EntitledBastard him]]'' for all the pain that resulted from his actions. He tries to profit off of it by peddling his book at the reunion show. Even worse is that he weighs in on the whole ''Island of the Idols'' controversy by saying the ''sexual harasser'' is being unfairly painted by the edit when literally all evidence suggests otherwise.
*** It shouldn't be glossed over how terrible the public fallout of this could have been for Zeke. While the LGBT community has definitely been making headway for transgender people, there is still a sizable portion of society that outright detests them for being different. Varner's actions could have very well resulted in Zeke's ostracism and that's not an exaggeration. The worst part about the CryForTheDevil mentality is forgetting how it affects the true victim.

* Another unfortunate death on August 29th, 2020 with the death of Cliff Robinson of ''Cagayan''.

* In ''Millennials vs. Gen X'', Adam find a hidden Immunity Idol. At first it's triumphant, until he starts crying and reveals that his mother is also a huge fan of Survivor and has stage four lung cancer. He's feeling both his dreams and nightmares coming true at the same time. He also adds that he hopes his mother can watch him on the show, and that it'll bring her some happiness in her terrible time...but unfortunately, Adam's mother passed away before the season aired, making this pre-recorded moment even more devastating.

** Some of the weight is lost from this when you see Pat's tribe in tears and remember that they had always disliked him and were going to give him the boot anyway.

* On January 8, 2021, [[https://www.gardenofmemoriesmetairie.com/tributes/Cassandra-Jakusz?fbclid=IwAR2ajlb_svZWISunpzmRS5HscAEwYAUWdHHmnChPbQWpJ5GF4u4KxJM42k0 Angie from ''Palau'']] unexpectedly passed away.

*** It gets [[FromBadToWorse even worse]] when you find out that Varner was fired from his real estate job due to the negative backlash, because some fans of Survivor had contacted his work and demanded they fire him. Not only did he damage Zeke's life, but his own as well. Many fans are worried that he'll relapse in depression and become suicidal again and are trying to get his work to rehire him. [[CryForTheDevil You can't help but pity a man who's life is in shambles after an ill thought-out mistake that he clearly regrets.]] Fortunately for him, he [[http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/gotriad_extra/greensboro-s-jeff-varner-survives-survivor-with-new-job-outlook/article_80c11fa3-82a5-5322-937f-eefecc10ffdb.html got a new job]] which according to him in the finale was actually better than the one he previously held.

* Zeke's betrayal of Andrea in episode 8 is especially hard to watch. The two of them are friends in real life, and seeing Andrea's reaction to his betrayal makes that even more disheartening, especially since she was the one to immediately jump to his defense when he was outed by Varner.

* Debbie casting her vote for Brad to win the game and prefacing it with "It's good to know in this jaded, crazy world that good guys finish first." Sarah, the person who rubbed her the wrong way, ended up winning anyway, because Brad decided to browbeat Tai into submission and poisoned the jury pool.

** Unfortunately, circumstances force Ben to undergo a FaceHeelTurn later in the season, and the buildup to it is genuinely tragic. His conflicting loyalties force him to betray one of his closest allies, Chrissy, for the sake of his long-term game, and his role as a DoubleAgent effectively destroys his friendship. Then he lears that his new allies, including his friend Lauren, are planning to thank him by double-crossing him. Ben responds by revealing all of Lauren's advantages to Chrissy, Ryan, and Mike to blindside her, escalating the situation into a dramatic showdown at tribal in which it becomes clear that Ben and Lauren are no longer interested in being civil with each other. Ultimately, Ben uses his idol to single-handedly eliminate Lauren. This is tragic because Ben states in several confessionals that he was trying to escape the darkness of his past and leave behind some of the horrible things he says he did, but the game of Survivor forced him to backslide into it. He gets better and wins the game, though, so it isn't too disconcerting in the long run.

* The David tribe bonding over [[DarkAndTroubledPast their respective dark pasts]] while huddling in the shelter for warmth. It starts with poor Jessica, who's just a 19-year-old girl, breaking down and feels bad for doing so because she's always been the one comforting others due to having to be mature person in her family thanks to her mother being in a toxic relationship. This leads to Bi admitting her own past with domestic violence, due to having been in a previous relationship with an abusive boyfriend, and she comforts Jessica by telling her she's a hero to her mother. And this in turn makes Nick, who was earlier portrayed as a [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] SmugSnake, to eventually admit his tragic past in losing his mother to drugs, to which he cries for the first time since her death. It's shockingly dark and sad, but also rather heart-warming, to see an entire tribe bond over their struggles in life and become closer due as a result.

*** Is that, according to the rules of Survivor, Kellee is literally silenced (because she's a member of the jury) while her tribe mates dismiss her claims and Dan continues selling his side of the story and pretending to be a nice guy unfairly getting his name dragged through the mud.

* All those ill-conceived jokes about Bill Boyle ([=B.B.=]) Andersen being dead for years became totally depressing when news got out the poor man actually did pass away after suffering from a brain cancer that took his life.

* After ''China'' wnner Todd Herzog won the show, he started to have an drinking problem. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPIwPrvwoQs He made an appearance on Dr. Phil]] where he could barely walk and was clearly miserable. It's hard not to feel bad for the guy.

*** Todd has accused the Dr. Phil show of sabotaging his recovery and setting this up for ratings. He claimed he arrived with his father and was sober, then they separated him from his father and left him alone in a dressing room with vodka and red bull and then gave him a Xanax so he it came time for the show he was completely intoxicated. Dr. Phil's defense was basically "addicts lie".

** Yul then promised that if he won, he'd donate '''the entire $2 million''' to ALS charities, which unfortunately didn't happen. Though since every contestant was guaranteed at least $25,000 for competing, it might not be all bad
* Jaclyn and Jon miscarrying after it looked like they could finally have their seemingly impossible dream of having a child

* Peih-Gee being the third boot in ''Cambodia'' is this for her supporters. She was a popular underdog in ''China'', nearly making it to the final four despite huge odds against her, and she waited eight years for her chance to get back in the game. She was considered an underdog for the Second Chance and was happily surprised to win a spot. She leaves early less as a result of personal failing, and more due to [[DiabolusExMachina extreme bad luck]]: she is Misblamed for stealing [[DramaQueen Abi's]] bracelet, gets tribe swapped to the new Angkor tribe with her, and is targeted by [[SitcomArchNemesis Abi]] and the minority after Jeff Varner grabs the [[IdiotBall]]. It's hard not to feel a bit sad for her losing her second chance in such circumstances.

* Terry in ''Cambodia'' getting pulled out of the game with the news that his son was in the hospital, and both his wife and the doctor said he should come home as soon as possible, with Terry not even hesitating or questioning about doing so. His son needed a heart transplant, and was fortunately fine after the surgery.

** Unfortunately, things have only gotten worse for Todd. He's set to appear on Dr. Phil again, as his drinking problem has gotten so bad that he's in a wheelchair and has seizures - and is shown in commercial to possibly have one while on the show. Poor guy...

** In general, Lil is just a truly pitiful case. After being isolated from her tribe and voted out third, she returns via the Outcast Twist, but is drastically in over her head. Constantly emotional to the extreme, Lil would go through the entire merge being lied to, hurt, and demeaned. While she had [[TookALevelInBadass an epic moment taking down Fairplay in the FIC]], she would go into Final Tribal Council only to be completely brutalized by the jury (according to outside sources, including the man himself, [[JerkAss Fairplay delivered an inhumanely hateful speech that couldn't be aired]] solely to make her life hell) and she ended up getting slaughtered in the final vote (6-1). To add insult to injury, when the jury said in the reunion that they would vote for her over Fairplay, they had only done so because producers tipped them off to lie in order to keep Lil from crying during the reunion. And not only that, in the DVD commentary, it was revealed that she was only voted back into the game not because she was the most deserving, it was because the pre-jurors didn't want her around during their pre-merge vacation, so essentially she was voted out of the Outcasts! Regardless of what you might feel about her, there's no denying that it is very hard to have as miserable of a Survivor experience as Lil did (although [[TheWoobie Woobies]] like Bobby Jon Drinkard and Kathy Vavrick O'Brien give her a run for her money.)

** Another unfortunate death on August 29th, 2020 with the death of Cliff Robinson of ''Cagayan''.

** Yul then promised that if he won, he'd donate '''the entire $2 million''' to ALS charities.

*** Michele manages to make it to the end despite constantly being in danger and fighting from the bottom, but comes in third. And the worst part is she ''would'' have gotten some votes had Edge of Extinction not been in play, as Adam, Danni, Nick and Wendell came to her post-game and admitted they would have voted for her, but were worried that Natalie would've won and voted for Tony to ensure she wouldn't.

** Michele towards the end of ''Winners at War''. The majority alliance makes it painfully clear she is next to go, no one listens to her [[CassandraTruth correctly trying to warn them that Tony will win the game if he makes it to the end]], and even when she manages to save herself with an immunity win, the one ally, she has left, Nick, is sent to the Edge.

** ''Winners at War'' has a moment where Rob is doing an Edge of Extinction challenge and slips and injures himself, making it impossible for him to complete the challenge in time. He just keeps going, talking about how much it sucks that he couldn't finish because of a bout of bad luck.
*** In the same challenge, Danni's reaction to finishing 7th. Only the first six people got fire tokens and she finished only a few seconds after six(Wendell).

** As awesome as it was to see Koror's conquering, you really have to feel bad for Ulong in this. Despite trying their best in challenges and trying to get a leg up, Ulong just kept losing Immunity challenges, and going to Tribal Council every time to see another member go home. Stephenie gets the worst of it all, having to watch her tribe get whittled down to just herself, and by that time, her morale was at a all time low that just a tree mail informing her that she's going to Koror was able to lift her spirits up a bit.

-->"One of the reasons I am playing this time around... is Jonathan Penner is one of my closest friends. Coming out of Survivor, we stayed in very close touch. I’ve gotten to know his wife, his kids, and vice versa. His wife, Stacy Title, is suffering from ALS. And it is an absolutely brutal, devastating disease. She was diagnosed about a year and a half ago, and at this point [May, 2019] she’s lost all motor function except for the ability to move her eyes. And maybe some rough head movements. And it’s just been an incredibly, incredibly difficult burden on her and Jonathan, and their kids."